System for Processing Image Representative Data

1. A method for automatically converting a graphical trace of acquired patient data into digital data suitable for digital signal processing, comprising the steps of: receiving a first file comprising data representative of an image including said graphical trace of acquired patient data; analyzing said received data to identify individual pixels comprising said graphical trace in said image representative data; automatically generating a second file, different to said first file, comprising graphical trace representative data including a plurality of pixel representative data elements in a desired data format identifying the relative location of said individual pixels in relation to a reference point; generating said desired data format by identifying the relative location of said individual pixels and identifying at least one of, (a) color of said individual pixels and (b) luminance amplitude of said individual pixels; and storing said generated pixel representative data elements comprising said second file.

2. A method according to claim 1 , including the step of scanning a paper reproduction of said graphical trace to provide said data representative of said image including said graphical trace.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said data representative of said image including said graphical trace is in at least one data format of, (a) a bitmap file format, (b) a graphical interchange format (GIF format), (c) a (Joint Photographic Expert Group) JPEG format and (d) a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF).

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said desired data format is an ASCII format comprising: (x, y, color)i where (x) represents the x-coordinate position of the i-th pixel; (y) represents the y-coordinate position of the i-th pixel, and color represents the RGB color of the i-th pixel.

5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said graphical trace of a medical parameter comprises at least one of, (a) an electrocardiogram trace, (b) an electro-encephalogram trace and (c) a ventilator parameter trace comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of respiratory rate, tidal volume, minute volume, pulse oximetry, etc.), and (d) a blood parameter trace.

6. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: formatting said received data into a format compatible with a procedure located at a remote destination, said procedure being for processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image; and communicating said formatted data to said remote destination in response to a user command; and generating said displayed image at said remote destination using said formatted data.

7. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: decoding said data format to provide formatted data in a decoded format incorporating data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace; and initiating execution of a procedure for accessing said data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace and exclusive of establishing customized security protocol settings enabling access by said procedure to said formatted data, said procedure processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image.

8. A method for automatically converting a graphical trace into digital data suitable for digital signal processing, comprising the steps of: receiving a first file comprising data representative of an image including a graphical trace; analyzing said received data to identify individual pixels comprising said graphical trace in said image representative data; receiving user color selection information specifying a color; automatically generating a second file, different to said first file, comprising graphical trace representative data including a plurality of pixel representative data elements of pixels of said specified color in a desired data format identifying the relative location of said individual pixels in relation to a reference point; and storing said generated pixel representative data elements comprising said second file.

9. A method according to claim 8 , wherein said storing step comprises storing said generated pixel representative data elements in a second file of format selected by a user from formats including, (a) a text file format, (b) a word file format, (c) a spreadsheet format and (d) a database compatible format.

10. A method according to claim 8 , further comprising the steps of: determining file size of said received first file from file header information; and extracting pixel data for use in said generating step by performing a binary read of said first file of determined size.

11. A method according to claim 8 , further comprising the steps of: extracting raw binary data representing pixel data in three 8-bit segments per pixel; comparing extracted pixel data against a user-specified desired colormap to selectively filter those pixels corresponding to those of a desired color; and generating coordinates of the filtered extracted pixel data in a desired format for use in said step of generating a plurality of pixel representative data elements.

12. A method according to claim 8 , further comprising the step of analyzing generated pixel representative data elements to determine frequency of features embodied in said graphical trace.

13. A method according to claim 8 , further comprising the step of analyzing generated pixel representative data elements representing a segment of said graphical trace to determine frequency of features embodied in said graphical trace segment.

14. A method according to claim 8 , wherein said graphical trace represents a medical parameter and including the step of automatically predicting changes in medical parameter frequency characteristics.

15. A method according to claim 14 , wherein said graphical trace of a medical parameter comprises at least one of, (a) an electro-cardiogram trace, (b) an electro-encephalogram trace and (c) a ventilator parameter trace, and (d) a blood parameter trace.

16. A method according to claim 14 , further comprising the step of automatically determining whether said predicted changes in medical parameter frequency characteristics are statistically significant for a specific patient.

17. A method according to claim 16 , further comprising the step of determining whether said predicted changes in medical parameter frequency characteristics are statistically significant based on medical record information for said specific patient.

18. A method according to claim 8 , further comprising the steps of: formatting said received data representative of an image into a format compatible with a procedure located at a remote destination, said procedure being for processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image; and communicating said formatted data to said remote destination in response to a user command; and generating said displayed image at said remote destination using said formatted data.

19. A method according to claim 8 , further comprising the steps of: decoding said data elements to provide formatted data in a decoded format incorporating data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace; initiating execution of a procedure for accessing said data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace and exclusive of establishing customized security protocol settings enabling access by said procedure to said formatted data, said procedure processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image.

20. A method for automatically converting a graphical trace of acquired patient data into digital data suitable for digital signal processing, comprising the steps of: receiving data representative of an image including said graphical trace of acquired patient data; automatically generating a second file, different to said first file, comprising formatted data representing graphical trace representative data including a plurality of pixel representative data elements in a desired data format compatible with a procedure located at a remote destination, said procedure being for processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image; communicating said formatted data to said remote destination in response to a user command; and generating said displayed image at said remote destination using said formatted data.

21. A method for automatically converting a graphical trace of acquired patient data into digital data suitable for digital signal processing, comprising the steps of: receiving a first file comprising data representative of an image including said graphical trace of acquired patient data; automatically generating a second file comprising graphical trace representative formatted data including a plurality of pixel representative data elements incorporating data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace; initiating execution of a procedure for accessing said data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace and exclusive of establishing customized security protocol settings enabling access by said procedure to said formatted data, said procedure processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image.

22. A method according to claim 20 , wherein said generating step comprises formatting said received data representative of an image into tagged fields in an HTML Active Server Page format.

23. A method according to claim 20 , wherein said format compatible with a procedure located at a remote destination comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of (a) a bitmap file format, (b) a graphical interchange format (GIF format), (c) a (Joint Photographic Expert Group) JPEG format, and (d) a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF).

24. A method according to claim 20 , wherein said procedure located at a remote destination for processing said data representative of a graphical trace is a Java applet.

25. A system for automatically converting a graphical trace of acquired patient data into digital data suitable for digital signal processing, comprising: an image reader programmed to: (1) receive a first file comprising data representative of an image including said graphical trace of acquired patient data; (2) analyze said received data to identify individual pixels comprising said graphical trace in said image representative data; (3) automatically generate a second file comprising graphical trace representative data including a plurality of pixel representative data elements in a desired data format identifying the relative location of said individual pixels in relation to a reference point; (4) generating said desired data format by identifying the relative location of said individual pixels and identifying at least one of, (a) color of said individual pixels and (b) luminance amplitude of said individual pixels; and a data object programmed to store said generated pixel representative data elements comprising said second file.

26. The system of claim 25 , wherein said data representative of said image including said graphical trace is in at least one data format of, (a) a bitmap file format, (b) a graphical interchange format (GIF format) (c) a (Joint Photographic Expert Group) JPEG format and (d) a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF).

27. The system of claim 25 , wherein said desired data format is an ASCII format comprising: (x,y, color)i where (x) represents the x-coordinate position of the i-th pixel; (y) represents the y-coordinate position of the i-th pixel, and color represents the RGB color of the i-th pixel.

28. The system of claim 27 , wherein said graphical trace of a medical parameter comprises at least one of, (a) an electro-cardiogram trace, (b) an electro-encephalogram trace and (c) a ventilator parameter trace, and (d) a blood parameter trace.

29. The system of claim 25 , further comprising: a signal processor programmed to format said received data representative of an image into formatted data compatible with a procedure located at a remote destination, said procedure being for processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image; and an imaging object programmed to communicate said formatted data to said remote destination in response to a user command to generate said displayed image at said remote destination using said formatted data.

30. The system of claim 25 , further comprising: a signal processor programmed to decode said data format to provide formatted data in a decoded format incorporating data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace; and an imaging object programmed to initiate execution of a procedure for accessing said data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace and exclusive of establishing customized security protocol settings enabling access by said procedure to said formatted data, said procedure processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image.

31. A system for automatically convening a graphical trace into digital data suitable for digital signal processing, comprising: an image reader programmed to: (1) receive a first file comprising data representative of an image including a graphical trace; (2) analyze said received data to identify individual pixels comprising said graphical trace in said image representative data; (3) receive user color selection information specifying a color; (4) automatically generate a second file comprising graphical trace representative data including a plurality of pixel representative data elements of pixels of said specified color in a desired data format identifying the relative location of said individual pixels in relation to a reference point; and a data object programmed to store said generated pixel representative data elements comprising said second file.

32. The system of claim 31 , wherein said data object is programmed to store said generated pixel representative data elements in a second file of format selected by a user from formats including, (a) a text file format, (b) a word file format, (c) a spreadsheet format and (d) a database compatible format.

33. The system of claim 31 , wherein said image reader is further programmed to determine file size of said received data representative of an image from file header information and to extract pixel data for use in said generating step by performing a binary read of said file of determined size.

34. The system of claim 31 , wherein said image reader is further programmed to extract raw binary data representing pixel data in three 8-bit segments per pixel; compare extracted pixel data against a user-specified desired color map to selectively filter those pixels corresponding to those of a desired color; and generate coordinates of the filtered extracted pixel data in a desired format for use in generating a plurality of pixel representative data elements.

35. The system of claim 31 , wherein said image reader is further programmed to analyze generated pixel representative data elements to determine frequency of features embodied in said graphical trace.

36. The system of claim 31 , wherein said image reader is further programmed to analyze generated pixel representative data elements representing a segment of said graphical truce to determine frequency of features embodied in said graphical trace segment.

37. The system of claim 31 , wherein said graphical trace represents a medical parameter and including the step of predicting changes in medical parameter frequency characteristics.

38. The system of claim 37 , wherein said graphical trace of a medical parameter comprises at least one of, (a) an electrocardiogram trace, (b) an electro-encephalogram trace and (c) a ventilator parameter trace, and (d) a blood parameter trace.

39. The system of claim 37 , wherein said image reader is further programmed to determine whether said predicted changes in medical parameter frequency characteristics are statistically significant for a specific patient.

40. The system of claim 39 , wherein said image reader is further programmed to determine whether said predicted changes in medical parameter frequency characteristics are statistically significant based on medical record information for said specific patient.

41. The system of claim 31 , further comprising: a signal processor programmed to format said received data representative of an image into formatted data compatible with a procedure located at a remote destination, said procedure being for processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image; and an imaging object programmed to communicate said formatted data to said remote destination in response to a user command to generate said displayed image at said remote destination using said formatted data.

42. The system of claim 31 , further comprising: a signal processor programmed to decode said data elements to provide formatted data in a decoded format incorporating data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace; and an imaging object programmed to initiate execution of a procedure for accessing said data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace and exclusive of establishing customized security protocol settings enabling access by said procedure to said formatted data, said procedure processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image.

43. A system for automatically converting a graphical trace of acquired patient data into digital data suitable for digital signal processing comprising: an image processor programmed to receive a first file comprising data representative of an image including said graphical trace of acquired patient data and automatically generate a second file comprising graphical trace representative formatted data including a plurality of pixel representative data elements in a desired data format compatible with a procedure located at a remote destination, said procedure being for processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image; and an imaging object programmed to communicate said formatted data to said remote destination in response to a user command to generate said displayed image at said remote destination using said formatted data.

44. A system for automatically converting a graphical trace of acquired patient data into digital data suitable for digital signal processing comprising: an image processor programmed to receive a first file comprising data representative of an image including said graphical trace of acquired patient data and automatically generate a second file comprising graphical trace representative formatted data including a plurality of pixel representative data elements incorporating data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace; and an imaging object programmed to initiate execution of a procedure for accessing said data fields conveying said data representative of said graphical trace and exclusive of establishing customized security protocol settings enabling access by said procedure to said formatted data, said procedure processing said data representative of said graphical trace to provide processed data suitable for use in presenting said graphical trace in a displayed image.

45. The system of claim 43 , wherein said image reader is further programmed to format said received data into tagged fields in an HTML Active Server Page format.

46. The system of claim 43 , wherein said format compatible with a procedure located at a remote destination comprises one or more selected train the group consisting of (a) a bitmap file format, (b) a graphical interchange format (GIF format), (c) a (Joint Photographic Expert Group) JPEG format, and (d) a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF).

47. The system of claim 43 , wherein said procedure located at a remote destination for processing said data representative of a graphical trace is a Java applet.

48. The system of claim 43 , wherein said image processor and said imaging object are computer program components.